Special Holiday Candlelight Tours of Lewis and Clark Caverns will once again be held on December 20, 21, 27 and 28. Tour times are at 10:30 a.m., 11:30 a.m., 12:30 p.m., 1:30 p.m. and 2:30 p.m. Reservations are required and can be made by calling (406) 287-3541 Monday through Friday, 8:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. Reservations will be accepted on a first-come, first-served basis and tour group size is limited to 15 people per group.
(Headlines - December 19, 1997)

At its December 12 meeting, the Fish, Wildlife & Parks Commission adopted tentative 1998-99 biennial seasons, regulations and quotas for moose, bighorn sheep, mountain goats, antelope, mountain lions and black bears, as well as tentative general season regulations and quotas for elk and deer in 1998. The Commission also adopted tentative seasons, regulations and quotas for upland game birds and wild turkey for the 1998-99 biennium.
(Headlines - December 19, 1997)

The Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks Commission is now accepting public comments on a proposed revision to the annual rule regarding floating on the Smith River. The revisions were tentatively adopted by the Commission at its December meeting in Helena. Changes to the annual rule are being considered because use of the river by floaters has reached levels where a review of management is suggested in the current management plan.
(Headlines - December 19, 1997)

At its meeting on December 11 in Helena, the Fish, Wildlife & Parks Commission approved an FWP proposal to purchase a conservation easement on the Hirschy property near Wisdom and establish conservation easements as part of a land trade concerning the Reinoehl property near Clearwater Junction. The State Land Board gave final approval to the transactions at its meeting on December 15. The Jack Hirschy Livestock Inc. easement, which will be purchased for a price of $1.
(Headlines - December 19, 1997)

As a five-year, $350,000 wildlife habitat agreement comes to a close this month, FWP and members of Canyon Creek's Grady ranching family are proposing to enter a new agreement that will forever protect important wildlife habitat from subdivision and other disturbances on more than 12,900 acres of private ranch lands. With the completion of a draft environmental assessment and management plan , FWP is proposing a $2.
(Headlines - December 19, 1997)

Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks is now accepting public comments on an Environmental Assessment for a proposed project at the Bell Crossing Fishing Access Site on the Bitterroot River two miles north of Victor. The proposal calls for rerouting the existing gravel road and upgrading the parking lots at the FAS, which has traditionally received heavy recreational use, particularly during the summer months when fishing and rafting are at their peaks.
(Headlines - December 19, 1997)

Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks is currently seeking nominations for individuals to serve on a statewide hunter behavior advisory council. The advisory council will lead a statewide effort to involve local residents and groups in identifying, defining, and recommending solutions to hunting behavior problems in Montana.
(Headlines - December 05, 1997)

The Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks Commission will meet on Thursday and Friday, December 11 and 12, at the FWP headquarters in Helena. On the agenda for the meeting, which is scheduled to begin at 8 a.m. on Thursday and continue at 8 a.m. on Friday, is the adoption of tentative 1998-99 biennial seasons, regulations and quotas for moose, bighorn sheep, mountain goats, antelope, mountain lions and black bears, as well as tentative seasons, regulations and quotas for elk and deer in 1998.
(Headlines - December 05, 1997)

Montana's Private Land/Public Wildlife Advisory Council will meet in Lewistown on Thursday, December 18, from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. in the Snowy Room at the Yogo Inn. Appointed by Governor Racicot, the PL/PW Council is charged with evaluating and making recommendations pertaining to hunter access and hunter management programs created under House Bill 195. The public is invited to observe the Council's proceedings. For more information, contact FWP's Shelley Juvan at 444-2602.
(Headlines - December 05, 1997)

Montana's 1997 general big game season closed Sunday, November 30. Even though the general season has ended, hunters are encouraged to keep firearms safety a year-round priority. Tim Pool, hunter education coordinator for Fish, Wildlife & Parks in Helena, said curious children sometimes will handle guns to "check them out" or "show them off.
(Headlines - December 05, 1997)

Several scheduled late season elk hunts are currently underway in various portions of central and southcentral Montana. Fish, Wildlife & Parks officials emphasize that the general big game season has not been "extended" in any areas of the state. These late special elk seasons are planned hunts that normally give hunters the opportunity to take animals that, for various reasons, were unavailable during the general hunting season.
(Headlines - December 05, 1997)

Victor artist Joe Thornbrugh has won Montana's state waterfowl stamp contest for the fifth time. Based on the decision of a panel of six judges in Helena on November 26, his painting of a pair of gadwalls in a prairie pothole setting will be reproduced as Montana's 1998 waterfowl stamp. Thornbrugh also won the stamp's inaugural competition in 1986, as well as the 1990, 1991 and 1997 competitions.
(Headlines - December 05, 1997)